Emergency Assistance upgrade for Focus ST

MELBOURNE – June 27, 2013: Ford’s SYNC-based Emergency
Assistance system is being rolled out in the new Focus ST performance
hatch.

“We’re excited to be able to offer Emergency Assistance in
the Focus ST, as well as the all-new Ford Kuga, which has recently gone on
sale,” Vice President Marketing, Sales and Service, Brad Brownell,
said.

Importantly, the 704 customers who have already taken delivery of their
Focus ST hatch since it went on sale in October 2012 will be able to have
Emergency Assistance activated on their vehicles - at no cost - through
participating Ford dealers.

The activation process takes around 30 minutes. Ford is notifying owners
via mail to organise with their local dealer for a suitable time to carry
out the activation. As part of this action, a replacement SYNC
Owner’s manual, which includes the Emergency Assistance operation,
will be installed in the vehicle’s owner’s manual.

After the successful launch of Emergency Assistance in the all-new Ford
Kuga, Ford Australia engineers have spent several months testing the system
in the Focus ST across the east coast of Australia.

“We’re really excited to announce that we’ve been able
to make it available to our Focus ST customers earlier than we
anticipated,” Brownell said.

“This technology is already proven in other markets and it will
provide important peace of mind for our customers.”

A vehicle-based, no-cost, non-subscription call-for-help system,
Emergency Assistance is already available in more than 5 million Ford
vehicles globally.

The Emergency Assistance system is built on the SYNC connectivity
platform, Ford’s customer-focused connectivity technology.

If a vehicle equipped with the activated system has been involved in an
accident where the airbags have been deployed or the emergency fuel pump
shut-off has been activated, the system will use an in-range paired mobile
phone to deliver a critical voice message to emergency services operators,
indicating that a vehicle has been involved in an accident and will open
the line for hands-free communication.

SYNC is Ford’s voice-activated hands-free-in-car communications
and entertainment system for mobile phones and digital media players that
allows the driver to make and receive calls and play music from digital
devices.

Australia was the first country in the Ford Asia Pacific region to
announce Emergency Assistance.

“It is our goal to provide a smart in-car experience for our
customers and have Ford take the lead in pursuing this new era of in-car
connectivity in Australia,” Brownell said.

How it works

Emergency Assistance delivers a critical
voice message to operators, indicating that a vehicle has been involved in
an accident and opens the line for hands-free communication.

The Ford
SYNC Emergency Assistance system uses the driver’s own mobile phone,
which must be within mobile phone reception range, and runs in the
background once the phone is properly paired with SYNC.

After the
one-time setup, the paired mobile phone connects with SYNC every time the
driver enters the vehicle with his or her phone and the phone is turned on
and within range.

Should an accident occur in which an airbag deploys or the emergency
fuel pump shutoff is activated, the feature uses SYNC hands-free phone
capabilities to connect the driver directly with an emergency service
through the paired phone, which must be within mobile phone reception
range.

Before initiating the emergency call, the vehicle’s SYNC system
will provide a 10-second window to allow the driver or passenger to decide
whether to cancel the call. If not manually cancelled within the 10-second
window, SYNC will place the emergency call.

If an accident occurs while a connected phone is being used for a normal
call, the Emergency Assistance system can end that call and dial the
emergency services. Also, incoming phone calls will not interrupt
communication between vehicle occupants and emergency responders.

Should an occupant not be able to communicate with the operator, an
introductory message tells the emergency operator that an accident has
occurred and the system can provide GPS location digits in the voice
message if needed.

The extent to which users have to maintain SYNC Emergency Assistance is
limited to the one-time setup.

A prompt occurs the first time a phone is paired with the system that
asks if the owner wants to set SYNC Emergency Assistance for all paired
phones. Once turned on, it remains that way unless the customer decides to
turn the feature off.

Vehicle occupants can speak directly
to the emergency services operator from inside the vehicle if required, or
can continue to communicate via the mobile phone if the occupants are
required to move away from the vehicle